Maybe If the Stars Align
by cozypancakes
Summary: When Keith's soulmate mark appears, he knows the universe hates him. Keith doesn't believe it will be possible to find his soulmate in a crowd of thousands. But no worries, his friends have a plan. And it is definitely illegal. Inspired by Tumblr user unblockingwritersblock's "My time says 11:59, New Year's Eve, Times Square. Fuck."
1. Chapter 1

"This is a horrible, horrible idea."

"Shut up, Lance."

"We're all going to go to jail!"

"Stop saying that, Lance!"

"Do you know what happens in jail!?"

"You're scaring Hunk."

"He should be scared! We should all be scared. This is terrorism!"

"It's not terrorism...I think."

"Pidge!"

"Everyone stop!" Keith yelled. Three pairs of eyes turned to look at him. Pidge stopped furiously typing on her laptop. Hunk stopped tinkering with his device. Even Lance stopped pacing back and forth across the room. Keith ran his hands through his hair. They all waited for him to figure out what he wanted to say. "I didn't ask any of you to do this for me."

"Keith," Pidge started.

"We've been over this Mullet," Lance continued.

"We're going to help you whether you want us to or not." Hunk finished.

Keith looked between all of them for a long moment. They had been planning this since August 5th. It had been the day that Lance had "found" his soulmate. Keith could remember the day perfectly. The four of them were at the local amusement park. Lance had been badgering them since January 1st about this day. Lance's usual high energy had reached monumental levels on the weeks leading up to his souldate. At one point, Pidge had to literally hold Keith back from punching him. But like supportive friends, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith had gone with him to the amusement park on a Wednesday. Lance refused to go to any other rides and simply sat in front of the ferris wheel. As the hours ticked by, the three of them tried their best to keep Lance from passing into hysterics. As the time grew closer and closer, Lance looked around desperately at the sparse crowd that had assembled at 2 pm on a weekday. When the clock turned 2:20 pm, Keith turned to Pidge and they both silently got up to give Lance some space. Neither of them found it all that odd when Hunk decided to stay. As 2:28 pm came nearer and nearer, Keith saw from afar as Lance said something to Hunk. Hunk then gave him an incredulous look. He then proceeded to go on a huge spiel that Keith could not decipher from his distance. Keith could only assume he was encouraging Lance that everything would be fine. He was so absorbed in looking at Hunk and his exaggerated hand movements, that it came as a surprise when Pidge announced that it was 2:28 pm. Keith glanced around them, but no one else was there. He looked back at Lance, expecting him to be disappointed, but instead found a look of pure joy and astonishment on his face. The next thing he knew Lance had thrown his arms around Hunk, screaming something about why the hell he hadn't told him sooner.

After the two had finally had their emotional talk, they explained everything to him and Pidge. Apparently, Hunk's souldate had been when he met Lance when they were kids. Since he was so young, Hunk hadn't even realized what had happened. Then, a year ago, Hunk had finally realized that he was in love with Lance. And then, four months ago, Hunk's mom had finally put the pieces together. Hunk refused to believe it at first; it was all just wishful thinking. Until his mom had unearthed photographic evidence of Hunk and Lance's first meeting. None of them had ever heard about soulmate not sharing exact meeting times as each other. But the whole business of souldates was so mystical and unexplainable that everyone decided anything could happen.

Keith and Pidge had offered to leave them on their own for the rest of the day but Hunk and Lance wouldn't hear of it. So the four of them had spent the rest of the day at the park and Keith had locked away his self-pity in a thick vault where it joined his abandonment issues and inability to be completely honest with his emotions. Keith did a very good job of it. The fact that Lance and Hunk were both so elated with each other made things easier for Keith. It wasn't until the end of the day when Lance abruptly turned to him with a serious and determined look on his face that he let himself dwell on his own souldate. "We're going to help you find your soulmate," he'd said. And that was how they ended up in this mess.

"Isn't there something to the whole thing of just letting fate do its thing?" Keith asked, a desperate last-ditch effort.

"Since when do you believe in fate?" Lance asked.

"Random times and locations appear on people's body on the first day of the year they will meet their soulmate. How can I not believe in fate?" Keith deadpanned.

"You know what I mean," Lance rebutted.

"Since when are you alright with letting life happen rather than taking it into your own hands and making it happen," Pidge spoke up.

"Exactly!" Lance agreed.

Keith glared at Lance before looking back at Hunk and Pidge who were back to working on their projects. "So I have no say in the matter?" Keith asked, already knowing the answer.

"None at all," Lance replied. "In fact, you should really get some sleep. It won't do to meet your soulmate with bags under your eyes. I already have so much work to do tomorrow as it is."

"I'm fine," Keith said, not taking Lance's bait. "I should be helping you guys with the preparations."

"We don't need your help," Pidge replied.

"And no offense, Keith, but there's really not much you could help us with anyway," Hunk told him gently. Keith let out a sigh, knowing Hunk had a point. But he also knew he wasn't going to be able to sleep much tonight.

A knock on the door drew everyone's attention away from their own thoughts. Lance, the one with the most energy, raced to see who was at the door. It was Matt.

"Hey, everyone," Matt greeted them as he entered the room. Matt was one of the main reasons why they were even here to begin with. If they hadn't been able to convince Matt to come with them on their trip, there was no way Pidge would've been able to convince her parents to spend New Year's in New York City with three young adults. Keith almost felt bad about lying to Matt about why exactly they were here, but Pidge said Matt had just enough morals to try and stop them from executing the plan.

"So, you guys still set with your big plans for tomorrow?"

"Yup, we're touring New York and then celebrating New Year's at Time Square," Pidge replied. They didn't even spare a glance at their brother, but that wasn't an oddity for them.

"Alright, well, you all have my cell number. Make sure you have enough money on you. And please don't talk to random strangers."

Keith had to admit, Matt was a pretty cool brother all in all. He was completely ignoring the rule that he was not to let Pidge out of his sight.

"Don't worry, we'll take good care of Pidge," Lance promised.

"I know," Matt said. "What are you two working on?"

"School work," Pidge and Hunk answered in unison.

"Riiiight," Matt replied, unconvinced. "Well, I'll be spending the day with my friend. I want you all to meet us at the designated location at 12:30. My friend warned me that it can get a bit hectic right after the countdown so I'd rather you not stay in Times Square after the fact."

"Yeah, yeah, we got it," Pidge replied.

"Good, don't stay up too late," Matt said. "See you next year!"

There was a chorus of goodbyes as Matt left to go to his and Pidge's hotel room.

"Do you feel at all guilty lying to him?" Hunk asked Pidge.

Pidge paused typing for a few seconds. "It's for a good cause."

"Yeah, that'll totally convince the jury to not convict us," Lance replied sarcastically. Lance then turned to him. "Well, if you're refusing to get some sleep, let's go down to the gym," Lance suggested. He jumped out of his seat and was already moving towards their bags. Keith supposed it couldn't hurt. Punching something seemed a good a way as any to get over his nerves. Maybe he'd exhaust himself enough to fall asleep once they got back to the room.

"Keith, you should really eat something," Hunk encouraged. Keith grunted as a response. He had his head laying down on the table in the restaurant they were at.

"You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?" Pidge asked between mouthfuls.

Another grunt in response.

"At least drink your coffee," Hunk insisted. "That'll wake you up enough so you can eat something."

Keith lifted his head up from the table to look at Hunk as he said, "If I put anything in my stomach, I'm going to be puking it out in under a minute." Once that was said, he promptly let his head fall back on the table with a thud. After a beat, Keith let out a small "ow."

"Jeez, you're worse than Lance," Pidge commented.

"Hey! I wasn't that bad," Lance defended himself.

"Well, you wouldn't shut up. You were a nervous ball of energy that would have exploded at any moment. Keith still has one up on you since he hasn't vomited yet. Keep it up, Keith. I'm rooting for you." Lance made an offended noise.

"He can't go the rest of the day without eating!" Hunk exclaimed.

Though he'd never admit it, their familiar bickering helped to calm some of his nerves. After a few more minutes of resting his head on the table and listening to their conversation, Keith finally sat up and started munching on some toast. He was encouraged when the turmoil in his stomach didn't seem to put him on a bee-line to the restroom. Keith glanced over at the clock. It was barely 11:30 am. This was going to be a long day.

After Pidge and Hunk had reassured him repeatedly that everything was as ready as it could be for tonight, Keith let himself be dragged around New York City. They'd saved up to make this trip for months. Keith couldn't begrudge them wanting to see as much of New York as possible while they were here. Keith enjoyed himself too, or as much as he could while having his souldate loom over him like a cloud. Pidge had researched extensively everywhere they would go and at what time, where they would eat, and the easiest route to make it to Times Square at around 9 pm.

Even Keith couldn't help but stop and be amazed when they arrived later that night. The amount of people that were packed into that tiny area was astounding. He looked up at all the screens that were lining the buildings facades. Keith mindless reached for the spot on his left forearm. Last New Year's Day, at the random party Hunk and Lance had dragged them to, after everyone had exchanged the congratulatory New Year hug, Keith had subtly looked down at his arms and hands. And it had been there. After so many years of wondering when his souldate would appear, there it was. Lance's scream of excitement had brought his attention back to his friends. All of them were so focused on Lance that it was a few minutes before Pidge turned to him and asked if he'd gotten his. Hunk and Lance had instantly turned to him when he said yes.

"Well!? What does it say?" Lance had asked.

Keith looked back down to his forearm, reading the words in their entirety for the first time. "My time says 11:59, New Year's Eve, Time Square." It wasn't until he said it out loud that he realized what that entailed and his racing heart seemed to come to a sudden stop. "Fuck."

With the full realization that it would be _impossible_ to find the one person he was meant to be with in such a massive crowd hitting him full force, Keith hadn't been able to contain the bitter laugh nor the tears that sprang to his eyes. He'd run then, not wanting the others to see him like that. He ran out of the apartment and into the street. He ran until he was in the middle of nowhere and he couldn't tell if he was just breathing heavily from the physical exertion or from the pit of despair that was growing in his stomach. Keith punched whatever it was that he was leaning on.

 _Fuck!_

He'd let himself slide down to the floor and cry. Hadn't the universe fucked him up enough? He was the son of two non-soulmates. They'd left him when he was three or four. He'd been stuck in the system his whole life. Never getting the horribly abusive parents, but never lucky enough to find a permanent home. Not being able to afford going to that amazing school that had magically accepted him. Not being able to join the air force because of his stupid nearsightedness. Everything in his life always seemed to come with a set back. After years of telling himself he didn't believe in soulmates, that he could survive without them, that maybe he was one of those people who didn't get a soulmate in this lifetime, he'd been happy when he'd seen his souldate. So damn happy he hadn't even read it properly before becoming hopeful. He'd thought, for a few minutes he'd thought, _finally, I won't be alone anymore._

"Let's go get souvenirs!"

"Keith?" Pidge asked, turning to look at him.

Keith blinked a few times, coming out of his memories. "Sorry, what?"

"Lance wants to go buy souvenirs," Pidge explained, pointing over to where Lance must have gone off to.

"Right, sure," Keith said. He started walking with Pidge.

"You alright?"

Keith glanced over at them. They were more concerned than they let on. "I'm fine," Keith said. Pidge let out a derisive snort. "Alright, I'm just distracted."

"That's understandable."

"I just…" Keith hadn't let himself think this. It had always been there, in the back of his mind. He could never manage to shut up his insecurities completely, just enough to ignore them. But ever since they started planning this night...it had been there, that nagging thought. "What if...what if they aren't even here?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if-what if they were like me? What if they saw the souldate, knew it was impossible to meet one specific person here and just didn't bother coming?" _What if they didn't think I was worth the trouble?_

"They'll be here," Pidge reassured him. "Either way, could you really go on with the rest of your life without knowing?"

"I guess not," Keith conceded. They'd finally caught up with Lance and Hunk. Lance seemed to be buying the entirety of the booth. Keith glanced down at Pidge. "You really don't care about your souldate?"

Pidge seemed to take a moment before responding. "Not really," Pidge replied. "I know everyone says that your soulmate will love you for who you truly are and all that crap, but we both know that's not always the case. Sometimes you end up hating your soulmate. I mean, sure, my soulmate may just be a best friend or something. But hey, I'm a nonbinary ace nerd. I think the cards are stacked against me on this." Keith nodded in understanding. He'd known Pidge when they still went by Katie. He'd been with them through all the revelations and coming outs. Another scary thought to plague his mind. What if, miracles of all miracles, he found his soulmate and it wasn't even worth it?

"Besides," Pidge continued, "who really needs a soulmate when I already have to deal with your three idiots?"

"And Matt," Keith added.

"Yeah! See, I have my hands full committing felonies with you guys. No need to add more into the mix. Lance, seriously, stop buying things!" Pidge pleaded. They went over to try and get Lance to leave the booth with extravagant hats and signs and other useless trinkets.

"But we need mementos of this amazing day!" Lance complained.

Keith let Hunk and Pidge take care of Lance. He didn't have the energy to deal with much more today. Keith eyed the shops around him; someone around here had to be selling coffee. His search was interrupted when someone bumped into him from behind. He turned around, an apology on his tongue when the other person beat him to it.

"Sorry, sorry," she said. "It is impossible to get through here without bumping into people. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Keith replied.

"Great," she replied. "Excuse me. Oh, and I hope you have a great new year." She was already turning away from him before he had a chance to respond. "Now _where_ are Shiro and Coran?" That was the last thing Keith heard before she was swallowed up by the crowd.

"Keith!" He turned back to his friends. "Let's go find something to snack on," Hunk said. Keith nodded as he walked over to the group.

They managed to find a food stand with a reasonable enough wait time. They wandered around Times Square as they ate their pastries and drank their warm drinks. Pidge made sure to reply to all of Matt's texts so that he wouldn't get worried and suggest they meet up earlier. Hunk and Lance had been taking selfies and documenting the entire experience on social media. They seemed to be having the most perfect first New Year's Eve any couple could hope for. For his part, Keith had been alternating between being hyper aware of his environment and being immersed in his own little world. Currently, he was very much aware of how cold it was. Even surrounding by hundreds of people, the cold managed to seep through his jacket and layers and bite at his bones.

Before he even realized it, the group was moving towards their target. He looked down at his watch: 11:20 pm. Times Square was fully packed at this point. It was hard to go through the crowd without losing each other. Eventually Hunk lead the group and the others formed a line behind him. Keith knew the general outline of the plan, but Pidge and Hunk had done all of the detailed planning. They were going to do all the work while Keith and Lance tried and kept an eye out for...well, at this point, Keith was ready for SWAT to suddenly ambush them.

Instead of a dark alleyway, Hunk lead them to one of the open cafes on the outskirts of the square. There was no way all of them would get in. Pidge turned to him and Lance. "You two stay out here. Hunk and I will take care of everything else." Keith and Lance nodded. They didn't really have a choice in the matter. And Keith was sure that he lost his ability to speak thirty minutes ago. Pidge suddenly turned back around and looked him right in the eye. "Good luck," they said. Keith was grateful for the encouragement. Then they turned to Lance. "Don't do anything to make him punch you." And with that, Hunk and Pidge fought their way into the cafe.

Keith and Lance wordlessly walked towards the window of the cafe. They could barely make out the top of Hunk's head over the crowd of people. Keith looked back towards the square. The noise and people were making him uncomfortable but oh well. This was where he was supposed to be. He looked down at his watch: 11:35 pm.

Lance turned away from the cafe and looked out to the crowd. "So," Lance began, "Big day." _No shit._ "I remember my souldate. Well, you saw what a mess I was."

"This is never gonna work," Keith said, before he could bite his tongue.

Lance shrugged. "It might not," he admitted. "I mean if anyone could do it, it would be those two but...yeah, you were fucked with this souldate." Keith couldn't agree more with him. "But...you know, I was thinking all of those things too. What if they don't show up? What if they aren't what I expected? What if _I'm_ not what they expected? What if I never meet them?"

"Okay, get out of my head, Lance," Keith grumbled.

"I'm just saying, I was freaking out too. And then I turned to Hunk and I told him this. Well, that what if my soulmate doesn't want me. And he just looked so baffled. As if I'd asked him why people eat. Then he just started saying how anyone would be lucky to be my soulmate. That I was amazing and funny and a great friend. That I had always been there for him and helped him with his own insecurities. That I was the one always giving him the best days of his life. That I was going to make my soulmate so happy." Lance paused, looking off into space with a stupidly big grin on his face. He looked so damn happy that it made something inside of Keith ache. Hell, it made everything inside of Keith ache. "And then it just hit me," Lance continued. "It didn't really matter what happened when my soulmate showed up. Good or bad, I'd have you all to help me through it or help me celebrate. As long as I had _Hunk_ there beside me, I could handle anything. And then, it happened so damn quickly...I almost didn't notice. Everything suddenly seemed so perfect and in place and right. And I knew it was Hunk."

Lance finally looked away from the crowd to look at Keith. Keith wasn't sure what his facial expression was at the moment but he imagined it wasn't nice. Lance blushed and laughed a little. "I guess you'll know what I'm talking about in a little bit," Lance said.

God, he hoped he would.

Keith looked back down at his watch: 11:44 pm.

The cafe was slowly emptying out, everyone trying to get a spot in the square for the big countdown. "Looks like they're hard at work." Keith turned around to look inside the cafe. Pidge was furiously tapping at their computer. Hunk was bent over whatever he had been building these last few months. Suddenly both Hunk and Pidge raised their hands in victory. "They did it!" Lance both stated and asked.

At the same moment, Lance and him turned back around to look at the square. Oh yeah...they'd done it.

Instead of the myriad of ADs on the screens, there was one common message that read on all of them: "Souldate" in big bold letters with an even bigger arrow under it. All the arrows were pointing back towards where Keith and Lance were standing. He would never underestimate Pidge or Hunk again. Collectively, the crowd in Times Square followed the arrows until they were all staring at the cafe. The messages lasted another thirty seconds before the screens went black. Before he knew it, the ADs were once again promptly displayed on the screens.

Hunk and Pidge scrambled out of the cafe. Hunk quickly placed his device on the floor and then smashed it with his foot. "This was just to help amplify Pidge's signal. We hopefully won't need this again any time soon," Hunk said, as he threw the ruined device away.

"We couldn't keep it up for long unless we wanted them to be able to trace us but yeah, we did it." Pidge was almost jumping up and down in their excitement.

"Now we just wait," Lance said. They all turned to Keith with hopeful smiles on their faces. Keith managed to move his face in what he hoped was a smile but was probably closer to a grimace. He checked his watch again: 11:53 pm. God, he was going to throw up. His heart was hammering in his ears. He could feel his pulse all over his chest. His eyes kept scanning the crowd, looking for anyone that was making their way towards the cafe. There was a small opening that separated the crowd from the entrance to the cafe. It would be obvious if someone were to break through.

His eye caught movement on one side of the crowd. Keith turned to look. A young man had stepped away from the crowd, a frantic look in his eyes. As he scanned the people there, they suddenly settled on Keith and held his gaze. They were a pair of deep blue eyes that Keith thought looked beautiful. And he felt nothing. The earth didn't move under his feet. A calm didn't settle over him. He felt nothing. And as soon as it had happened, the man's eyes moved away from Keith, still searching.

That wasn't his soulmate. That's all it was. The man started walking around the length of the cafe, looking around. Others in the crowd had caught on and were turning to look at him openly. Then, a woman broke out from the crowd just as suddenly as he had. She looked around and instantly focused on the man. They both stood frozen, staring at each other before they closed the distance between them and hugged. Applause from the crowd erupted. Keith couldn't control the glare he sent their way.

"Well, at least this helped someone," Lance mumbled. "Ow." Pidge had probably elbowed him for his insensitive comment.

Keith was just trying to breath. It still wasn't time yet. He still had who knows how many minutes before he met his soulmate. It was fine. Logically, it made sense that other people would find their soulmates tonight. That was fine. It wasn't the lottery. He'd find his person. Right?

The overwhelming sense of despair that Keith had felt three times before in his life was about to consume him before someone else broke through the crowd.

"Pidge!"

Oh, it was Matt.

"What did you do?" Matt asked, glaring at all of them in turn. There was a small group right behind him that seemed thoroughly confused. "Please, please tell me that you did not just hack into Times Square on New Year's Eve!"

"Then I won't-"

"Oh my god! Pidge!" Matt seemed to be losing his shit. And Keith couldn't blame him, he was just beyond caring. Out of the corner of his eye, he say all the screens turn to the minute countdown.

This was it.

And it was.

From right behind Matt, a figure stepped closer to their group and locked eyes with Keith.

Lance had been wrong.

It wasn't a slight, almost unnoticeable change.

It was an eruption.

It was an eruption of emotion and sensations and _happiness_ that overwhelmed Keith. There he was. The person he'd been looking for. Keith thought he would faint from all of it, yet his feet carried him forward, desperately trying to close the distance between him and this amazing man in front of him. Keith's eyes were trying to absorb every detail of him and maintain eye contact at the same time. Tall, muscular, breathtaking black eyes that popped with winged eyeliner, shocking white bangs, a scar across the bridge of his nose, everything perfect.

Before he knew it, Keith was standing right in front of his soulmate. God, how could someone's smile make him melt like that. "Hi." Oh this man was going to kill him with just one word. His voice! Could this man be anymore perfect? Probably not.

"H-hi," Keith replied. And of course his voice had to crack. Though the man's smile just grew so Keith couldn't dwell on any bad emotions for long.

The sound of the countdown starting brought them back down. The man tentatively reached out to grab Keith's hand. Keith reached out with his other hand. His gloved hand wrapped around cold steel and felt his soulmate stiffen the tiniest bit. Ah, a prosthetic. Okay. He tightened his grip on his soulmate's hands. That seemed to be the reassurance his soulmate needed to continue smiling down at him with unbridled joy.

"Six, five, four," his soulmate began to countdown. His eyes were shimmering with a question that Keith was more than ready to answer. "Three, two, one." Keith reached up on his tiptoes to meet his soulmate halfway.

It was short and sweet and unbelievably amazing. Keith couldn't wait to share more kisses like that like an everyday habit for the rest of his life. They drew away from each other by just a few inches.

"Happy New Year," his soulmate said.

Keith didn't think he could smile much larger if he tried.

"Happy New Year."


	2. Chapter 2

Shiro lay in his bed, staring at his left forearm. He wasn't sure how long he had been laying there, just looking at the writing on his arm. Tomorrow was the day. Tomorrow was New Year's Eve and he'd finally get to meet his soulmate.

The smile on his face was so big that he was sure his face would hurt tomorrow. He did his best to stop smiling and calm the butterflies racing in his stomach but his efforts only seemed to increase his mirth. He was just so damn happy.

Shiro never really expected this day to come. Before his accident, he'd been perfectly content with waiting for his souldate to appear at its own time. Sure, he'd feel a twinge of disappointment on January 1st when he'd look down at his arms and realize they were bare of markings. But that was fine. He just went on with his life, feeling completely reassured that he'd meet his soulmate sooner or later. He put his blind trust in fate.

And then his accident had happened...and Shiro had just given up hope.

It sent a shiver down his spine and a sour taste to his mouth to remember the years following his accident. He'd been...in a very, very dark place for a long time.

He shook himself out of those negative thoughts. This was not the day to dwell on his past nightmares. Tomorrow was going to be a good day. Tomorrow was the day he'd been waiting for years. Shiro smiled again. He wondered how his soulmate would be? Shiro didn't really care, he'd love them no matter what. He just wanted a face to put with the overwhelming adoration he felt in his chest.

The clock on his bedside table read 11:45 pm. Just 24 more hours. Shiro should really go to sleep. The thought left his head almost as quickly as it entered. Instead, he traced the outline of the souldate with his right hand. He stared at both the beautiful script and his prosthetic. He took in a shaky breath. Shiro chose to believe it wouldn't be a problem. A surprise, undoubtedly. Maybe even something they needed time to adjust to. Shiro would give them all the time in the world. Shiro would give them anything. He eventually drifted off to sleep, feeling like a kid on Christmas Eve.

This was exactly the reason why he shouldn't have let himself stay up so late last night. Now he was very very late to meet up with Matt. Shiro was frantically looking all over his apartment for his scarf. He hadn't had anytime to eat breakfast or pick out an outfit. His soulmate was going to be very unimpressed when they finally met later that night.

Once he finally located his scarf on the floor of his closet, Shiro left his apartment as quickly as possible. He rushed through the streets of New York. It was even more packed than usual. Once he finally got to his destination, he spotted Matt waiting outside the hotel.

"I am so sorry," Shiro said once he was finally in front of Matt.

Matt laughed at his out of breath expression. "No worries," he reassured. "It's great to see you again." Matt gave him a quick hug before snickering. "Why are you so winded? Haven't been staying in shape lately?"

Shiro chuckled. "I'm still working up to where I was," Shiro admitted.

"Well, too bad you're here so late. Pidge and her friends were hoping to say hi before they went off," Matt commented.

Shiro was disappointed to hear that. "Well, I guess we'll just see each other in the new year."

"That's the plan. So, where are you taking me today?"

Shiro let out a sigh. Of course Matt was going to use him as a tour guide. Well, if that was the case, Shiro imagined he was entitled to some breakfast first. "Mind if we stop by this one cafe so I can eat breakfast?"

"Sure thing," Matt agreed. He followed as Shiro started walking down the street. "So, you overslept? Doesn't sound like you."

Shiro nodded in agreement. He was usually very punctual. "I couldn't fall asleep last night."

"Aw, were you that eager to see me?" Matt teased. "I keep telling you to come visit us in Chicago. It's not like it's that far away."

Shiro tried to hide his cringe at how unsuccessful Matt hid his real resentment. Matt was an amazing friend. He had been since freshman year of college. They'd even kept in touch and visited regularly when they went to different grad schools. It was just after Shiro's accident that a rift came between them. A rift Shiro had created. Matt had visited as much as possibly that first year. But Shiro was too lost to really appreciate it. And then he couldn't bring himself to care about anything, let alone reciprocating the visits. And now, well Shiro would say it had only been 14 months since he had finally started putting his life back together. That involved a lot of hours at the hospital and even more hours with his therapist. The fact that he was reapplying for grad schools the last few months weren't helping either.

"This upcoming year, I'll definitely visit," Shiro reassured him. "Besides," Shiro began, "I may just end up in Chicago come fall."

Matt stopped walking and stared up at him.

Shiro let out a deep breath. Saying it allowed like this, it always made it seem more real. It made him feel like there was more to pay if he failed. But that was part of getting his life back on track. He had to be open his with friends and family. "I've been applying to a couple grad schools. I want to finish my PhD."

"Shiro…" Matt seemed completely thrown by this. And then he smiled and Shiro let out the breath he was holding. "That's awesome, Shiro! Wow, My dad will be thrilled. He always wanted to offer you a job at the company. What's your research proposal? Which programs have you applied to? You know my old man would've written you an amazing recommendation letter!"

And it was as if all those months and years of tension and silence had never existed between the two.

After breakfast, Matt and Shiro tried to find all of the open tourist sights near them. There weren't as many as usual, most having closed down for the holiday, and the few that were open were packed. Matt didn't really seem to care though. It wasn't his first time in New York after all. Shiro only cared about the fact that talking to Matt was as easy as it had always been. They talked extensively about his research proposals and the merits of each of the programs he had applied to. After academics was exhausted, Matt began to fill the time with hilarious anecdotes from both his tragic dating life and Pidge's "dysfunctional, but well meaning" group of friends.

"There is no way that's true!" Shiro objected.

"I swear!" Matt insisted. "For an entire two months, Lance and the others had a cow! A full grown cow in the dormitories."

"How the hell did the RA not find out?"

"Apparently most of the other people on the floor were in on it," Matt said. "I still couldn't believe it when Dad came home baffled at the fact that he had to go to campus because his child had been hiding a cow in their dormitory."

"Why? Why would they do that?"

"Beats me. All I know is that after they were caught, they found Kaltenekar a nice home in a friendly farm somewhere in Illinois."

"How much trouble were they in?" Shiro asked.

"Not much. I think everyone was kinda impressed that they'd managed to pull it off," Matt admitted.

"We were never that crazy in college, were we?"

"Ha!"

"What?" Shiro asked, bewildered.

"Says the reigning keg stand champion!"

Shiro felt himself blush. How had he forgotten about that?

"And let's not forget your fuckboy status," Matt teased.

"I was not!" Shiro's blush was burning his whole face now.

"Well, maybe not. You were always too nice for any of your victims to call you that."

"They were not victims!" Shiro argued. "You're making me sound like a wild, partying frat boy." Shiro sipped at his coffee to put a pause on the conversation. He wasn't going to deny that he'd partied and gotten laid very frequently in his college days. He was hot and charming and he knew it. Thinking back to that time made him feel older than his 27 years of age. Those times felt like forever ago.

"At least I never threw up in the middle of-"

"Hey! That was once!"

"Wasn't once enough?" Shiro commented. Matt gently punched him as he increased his pace down the sidewalk. Shiro laughed as he followed after a disgruntled Matt. How long had it been since he'd felt this care free? Since he'd been able to think about the person that he used to be and not be overwhelmed by depressive thoughts? Long enough, he thought.

The rest of the afternoon went by just as smoothly. The conversation flowed easily between the two friends, and Shiro was extremely happy to know that he could count Matt as a friend after everything that had happened. They had a classic New York steak at a random restaurant that was open and had seats.

Before Shiro realized it, they were making their way towards Times Square. "So, I told Allura and Coran that we'd meet them at the pretzel booth."

"That's terribly specific," Matt replied.

"Don't worry, we know which one."

Shiro couldn't help but laugh at the look on Matt's face when they finally reached their destination. "How in the world is anyone supposed to find us in this crowd?" Shiro did his best to keep his smile on his face. Matt was dead right. It was like trying to find a needle in a haw stack. Shiro felt panic worm its way into his system. Maybe he should've planned more for this night rather than expect everything to work out on its own.

He tried taking calming breaths as Matt kept looking around. "Shiro!" He turned around to see Coran approaching them. He tried to smile at the man but knew he hadn't really managed it. All he could do was force air in and out of his lungs. "Oh dear," Coran said once he got a good look at Shiro.

"Hey, are you alright," Matt asked. Shiro was about to automatically nod his head when he realized that no, no he was definitely not okay. Wow, he felt like such an idiot. How could he have expected everything to just fall into place?

"It seems the nerves for tonight are finally getting to you," Coran commented.

"Nerves for tonight?" Matt asked. "Why should he be nervous?"

Right, Shiro hadn't had the guts to tell Matt about his souldate. He hadn't really wanted to think about it all too hard, afraid that this would happen. He was vaguely aware of Matt and Coran talking to one another, but Shiro couldn't bring himself to make out what they were saying. Their voices just joined the rest of the noise surrounding him.

He needed to control his nerves. Shiro was already feeling light headed and ready to throw up the contents of his stomach, even while he felt something lodged in his throat.

Focus. Just focus. Whatever happens tonight...you'll deal with it one step at a time. Just like you've done with everything else. You'll survive tonight.

Someone was putting something cold and plastic into his hand. Water? Yes, it was a water bottle. That might help. Shiro brought the water bottle up to his lips and began gulping down the cool liquid. Once it was all gone, he held it back out to the general direction it had come from and someone took it from him.

Deep even breaths.

"Shiro? Are you alright?"

Instead of responding, he took a few more steadying breaths before opening his eyes. Matt and Coran both looked extremely pale. With one more deep breath Shiro nodded his head. Then Matt shoved his shoulder. Shiro almost fell on his ass.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Matt yelled. "You haven't said anything this whole day. You've just let me ramble on about my life as if this wasn't a very important day for you!"

"I'm sorry," Shiro replied. "I just didn't want to think about it until I needed to."

"But why?" Matt asked, frustrated. "You have no plan? How do you expect this to work?"

"I'm not sure," Shiro admitted.

Matt seemed ready to hit him. "Is this some self-pitying stuff?"

"What?"

"Do you not want to meet your soulmate? Do you think they'd be better off without you or some crap like that?" Shiro stared at him for a few moments. He could see the pain in Matt's eyes. That had been what Shiro had told Matt during one of his low points, when he was trying to push everyone away from him. He glanced over at Coran and found a similar worried expression on his face. Allura and Coran had been toeing the line on how much to push him on the souldate matter for months. He hadn't realized exactly what it was that was worrying them so much about his reluctance to plan for this night.

It wasn't any self-deprecating crap as Matt had put it. It really wasn't. Shiro wanted to meet his soulmate. He wanted to see them and hold them and learn everything there was to learn about them. He believed that there would be some sign or force or something that lead him to his soulmate tonight. Mainly because he still wanted to believe that after all the shit he'd been put through these past few years...he wanted to believe that fate or the universe or God still had something good in store for him.

So Shiro told them both this.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Matt declared. But there was no longer any real anger behind his glare.

"I think it's very brave."

Shiro turned around to see Allura smiling at him. He hadn't noticed her arrive.

"Alright, it is now 10:45 pm exactly. Why don't we walk around and see if your gut pulls you in any particular direction." Allura suggested.

So that's what they did. He mainly let Allura and Coran lead them around the different stands. He was grateful that conversation seemed to flow easily between them and Matt. His mind wasn't focused enough to really add to the conversation. They stopped randomly to either grab snacks or for Matt to buy ridiculously overpriced souvenirs.

Before he knew it there was only fifteen minutes left before midnight. Coran and Matt kept glancing at him, as if expecting him to suddenly take off running somewhere. He was about to complain about this, when there was a sudden change in the atmosphere. He saw Allura and Matt staring at something and turned with them. All the ADs in Times Square suddenly read "Souldate" with an arrow below it. Shiro followed the arrows from building to building until one of the buildings had an arrow pointing down to the ground. Shiro admitted to himself that he'd never expected such an obvious sign from the universe.

"How did they do this?" Allura asked beside him. Shiro couldn't care less.

"Oh my god!" Matt exclaimed. Shiro watched him turn around in a frantic circle, staring up at the ADs. Something seemed to click for Matt. "Oh my god, I'm going to kill them!" Before Shiro could ask what he was talking about, Matt took off in the direction of the building with the downward facing arrow.

"Matt!" Shiro yelled after him. Well, he was going to head in that direction anyway. Allura, Coran and him ran after Matt. Matt seemed to be pretty pissed since he didn't care that he was shoving his way through the crowd. Shiro had no idea what Matt was so upset about but Shiro just wanted to make sure he got to the building in time. So he let Matt continue to shove and push people as they slowly made their way across the Square. When Shiro looked back up, the original ADs were already airing. Shiro's nerves increased as the looming building kept growing taller in front of them.

In what seemed like an eternity and a split second, Matt suddenly broke through the crowd yelling "Pidge!" Shiro and the others followed him towards what he assumed were his sibling and their friends. Shiro's heart was racing so quickly that he could barely hear whatever it was that Matt was saying. He let his gaze wander around the others present until his gaze landed on him.

There he was. Shiro just knew it was him. He stepped away from his friends. His soulmate's gaze snapped towards him as soon as he did. Wow...those had to be the most stunning eyes he'd ever seen. Was it just the lighting are did they actually have specks of purple? Shiro didn't realize he was smiling like an idiot until his soulmate started walking towards him and he realized his smile couldn't get any bigger.

Suddenly his soulmate was right in front of him. "Hi," Shiro said. The word sounded so stupid. Especially when he was feeling so much at that moment.

"H-hi," his soulmate replied. Shiro wanted to touch him and he was completely baffled as to why he wasn't already. He reached out slowly, giving his soulmate ample time to pull away if he wanted. But he didn't. Shiro's hand enclosed his soulmate's gloved one. And then his soulmate was reaching out to take his other hand. He noticed the surprise when his soulmate's hand felt the metal of his prosthetic. A pang of panic hit him then. But before the thought could develop into anything, his soulmate was squeezing his hands and continuing to smile up at him. All Shiro could see in his eyes was adoration and acceptance.

Shiro wanted to cry. He wanted to wrap this beautiful human being in his arms and never let go. He wanted to ask for his name! But most of all he wanted to kiss him. And at least he might be able to do the last one fairly soon. "Six, five, four," Shiro began counting down with the crowd. Shiro gently leaned down a bit, letting his soulmate make the decision. Shiro could see amusement run through those incredible eyes. "Three, two, one." He felt his soulmates grip on his hands tighten as he pushed himself up on his tiptoes to press their lips together.

It was like coming home. It was pure and magical and better than anything Shiro could've expected. Shiro pulled away gently and smiled down at his soulmate. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year," his soulmate responded.

Shiro was positive that it would be.

"So...did anyone get a good angle on that kiss?"

"Oh, yeah, I recorded the whole thing," Lance stated. "This is going straight to my story."

"I got some really good shots of them too," Allura piped up.

"Should we remind them we're here?" Matt asked.

"Don't you dare," Hunk and Allura said.

"Alright, Pidge," Lance began, "Give me your arms." Pidge tore their eyes away from the beaming couple and held up their arms for Lance's annual inspection. He pulled back their sleeves as far as they would go and rotated their arms in every which angle. "Nothing."

As many other people in the crowd began to do, Allura and Matt also subtly started checking their forearms. Pidge watched as Matt's face went from shocked to confused to pensive to horror. "What does it say?" Pidge asked, nearing their brother. All the others immediately crowded around Matt to read his forearm.

2:47 am, March 27th, Cancun Playa Delfines.

Lance's scream of delight startled many of the people around them, even Keith and Shiro broke out of their happy bubble to look at all of them.

"Spring break, here we come baby!" Lance yelled.


End file.
